We need Patience to track down that elusive ancestor or break through the proverbial brick wall. We also need Precision in taking down notes or making transcriptions. I admit to the mistake of rushing to scribble down something when I have limited time at an archive centre or library - then get home and have trouble making head or tale of my notes.

Where would we be without Photographs to enhance our family history stories? They make such a difference in bringing our family "alive" and making them real people . It is always so sad to hear of photographs being thrown out, as has happened in branches of my family.

Right - John Moffet (c.1814-1881) mariner - my husband's great great grandfather, in a Napoleonic pose. This is the only 19th century ancestral photograph held by the family.Postcards in my collection are amongst my most treasured heirlooms - sent from Flanders during the First World War by my grandfather, William Danson, to his family back home.

I was too intent on the past and never thought about recording my own Personal Memories until I started blogging and was inspired by the many blog prompts. It has been great fun to recall my childhood and write such posts as "When I Grow Up..." and "Speccy Four Eyes".

I cannot let P pass by, without focusing on my ancestral home - Poulton-le-Fylde,Lancashire. At St. Chad's Church (left) my Danson ancestors were baptised, married and buried.

Poulton was the social and commercial centre for the surrounding small hamlets and the market cross, stone table for the selling of fish, the whipping post and the stocks remain as symbols of Poulton's past.

The only photograph (below) I have of my great grandfather James Danson shows him sitting merry in the old stocks in the Market Square. What a character he looks!

Family history takes us in so many directions - You can explore and experience:Place Name StudiesI love theimages conveyed by certain place names -Applegarth and Applethwaite in the north of England bring an image of rosy cheeked women outside a cottage garden with trees full of blossom - shades of romantic fiction I know! On the other hand would I want to live in a place called Boghall?

My husand's great grandfather George Hibbert was a miner hwo in the 1891 cesnus was living at Snowdrop Terrace, Barnsley, Yorkshire. given the living and working conditions of miners, it is doubtful if this address lived up to such a picturesque name.

My own area of the Scottish Borders is full of place names that roll off the tongue - such as Wolfcleuchhead, Deanburnhaugh, Priesthaugh,Ramseycleuchbur, Blackcleuch and Muckle Knowe.

Many thanks, Jana, for the mention. The embroidered First World War cards are so beautiful and have held their colour so well too , perhaps because they were kept in a shoebox in a cupboard at my grandfather's house - so out of any light.

Ohhh... I'm a bit "behind the eightball" here Susan but finally catching up. Passion & Pleasure is what motivates me too. Yep... Patience, Persistence and especially Photographs, which I wish I had more of. Thanks for providing Gaelic pronunciation for all those wonderful place names. Four years of studying the language and I'm still struggling but it will always remain "music to my ears".Cheers, Catherine

Many thanks, Catherine, for your response. Just to clarify and put the record straigh though, the place name words I featured are not Gaelic, but Lowland Scots. I live in the Scottish Borders about 50 miles south of Edinburgh with the next region England! So there is no Gealic heritage here.

About Me

I have been interested in family history for years. It all began when I was allowed as a child to look through the old family photographs and memorabilia kept in a shoebox in the cupboard at my grandfather's house. That treat started me on a fascinating ancestral trail.